See ya later, Shelly! Hello, flying solo.

Hello again!

So I told you in the very first post that I had a feeling I would be talking about how incredible God is throughout this blog. And I think that applies so well this week.

Monday and Tuesday were more of the same: teaching, teaching, and more teaching! With a trip to the store and a movie in Spanish thrown in there somewhere.

Here it is, Thursday, barely over halfway through the week and I can't count the times God has surprised me or just clearly shown me His presence in things that have happened this week.

The biggest one actually happened Tuesday. Shelly, like I've said before, is an art teacher, and wanted to be a blessing to the church here in Santiago by painting a mural on their wall. She worked so hard and got it almost completely finished yesterday!

And as wonderful as that was, that meant that I would be teaching by myself a day earlier than I was expecting. As you can expect, I started to worry. I had lots of insecurities about not being fun enough or not having enough time to prepare for teaching alone.

So, we went to the second class on Tuesday, and the memory verse we were working on was Psalm 56:3 "What time I am afraid I will trust in Thee." We were all singing it together, and it hit me that I was absolutely not trusting.

There I was, afraid about what Wednesday would be like, and singing about what to do when I am afraid. It was another "Okay, Lord, I'm listening" moment.

So I started praying. You'd think that after so long I could get it through my head that prayer works, and that if I would just trust in Him and not my own abilities that everything will work out, but I was surprised at how quickly I felt peace.

It was almost instant relief.

I didn't feel like the most qualified teacher (I still don't), and I was still wishing for that extra day, but I definitely wasn't feeling despair like I had been.

So Wednesday while Shelly did her thing, I taught my first classes on my own.....and it went so well!

(I guess helping Shelly in the classroom rubbed off on me!)

It wasn't perfect by any means, but I figured out how to do things better on my own. Shelly let me use her as a sounding board to bounce off ideas, and she gave me tips on what to do in certain situations.

Now it's day 2 on my own. Shelly sat in on the very first class this morning, then she left to stay in Panama City since she goes home on an early flight in the morning. She made me take the lead even though I didn't want to with her being here still, which was good for me as well.

And then we said our goodbyes.

One reason (of countless reasons) I am so thankful that God gave me the opportunity to come on this trip is that I was able to find a wonderful new friend in Shelly.

I'm gonna miss her like crazy these last 9 days that I'm here in Panama.

But I believe wholeheartedly that God's timing is perfect, and that He put us together at the exact right time, for the perfect amount of time.

I'm so so thankful that she was here at the beginning of this trip, for example, because I don't know what I would have done in this classroom alone the first week teaching. She taught me everything I currently know about teaching. And without her example, especially in the first week, I would have been a mess.

I also know that she is so ready to get back home to her husband, and I can't wait until I can go visit them in Arkansas!

Well. That pretty much catches you up to today, but before I close, I just want to list some things I'm thankful for here in Panama.

•  The Yañez family
•  The wonderful afternoon rains that cool down the temperature 
•  The Air Conditioned school
•  The sweet church family
•  Siestas.
•  Café Duran (coffee!)
•  The great time I had with Shelly
•  How much this trip has stretched my faith and caused me to grow closer to my Father. 

Oh! And before I forget, here are some more fun pictures! Enjoy!

Our coffee haul.

Panama City (I forgot to upload these onto the last one. Oops)

Lemongrass tea. It's. So. Good.

Fruit juice refrescas. Again..so good.

Teaching fun!

I don't even know what this is, but it's pretty great as well. 

And these are candy made of the stuff above. Have I mentioned that food here is super delicious? Because it is.

That's all for now!